This is without a doubt one of the best carrot cakes I’ve ever had, if I do say so myself. When I had Gourmet Delights, and my food rep came in one day with a delicious, but criminally expensive, carrot cake, I had to come up with something that was close so I didn’t have to sell it for $5 per slice. (Hilarious that that seemed outrageous at the time.) This is what I came up with.
Servings: 12 | Prep time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated carrot
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins
Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
Directions
Heat oven to 350. Combine sugar and oil in a bowl and beat until well combined. Add eggs, carrots, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed.
Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add dry mixture to liquids gradually, beating after each addition to ensure they are well combined. Stir in nuts and raisins.
Pour mixture into 2 greased and floured (preferably also lined with parchment too) 8″ round cake pans.
Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 35-40 minutes.
Frost with cream cheese frosting. In medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until just blended. Add powdered sugar, a bit at a time, until well blended. Taking care not to overbeat. Frost when cake is cooled.
